Authors
Md Rezaul Karim, Sean C Thomas
Published in
The New phytologist. Jul 13, 2026. Epub Jul 13, 2026.
Abstract
The contribution of tree foliage to atmospheric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes remains uncertain in global greenhouse gas (GHG) budgets. We investigated whether species identity, shade tolerance, and leaf-associated microbes influence foliar CH4 and N2O exchange. We conducted repeated in situ measurements of foliar CH4 and N2O fluxes across 25 temperate tree species interplanted at a forest restoration site using high-resolution laser spectroscopy, complemented by colocated soil flux measurements, and targeted microbial DNA sequencing. Tree foliage consistently acted as a net CH4 sink and net N2O source. Foliar CH4 oxidation increased by c. 33% in fall and was approximately threefold higher in shade-tolerant than shade-intolerant angiosperms, whereas N2O emissions were highest in shade-intolerant species with limited seasonality. Species identity explained most flux variability, with the highest-CH4-oxidizing angiosperm (Tilia americana) showing an order-of-magnitude higher particulate methane monooxygenase (pmoA) copy numbers and much greater Type I methanotroph representation than the lowest-CH4-oxidizing species (Prunus virginiana). Foliar CH4 uptake dominated the net non-CO2 climate forcing effect despite consistent N2O emissions. These findings highlight tree species identity and shade tolerance as key axes of foliar CH4 uptake and N2O emission, with abundance and species composition of leaf-associated methanotrophs also tracking species-level variation in foliar CH4 uptake.
PMID:
42443723
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Jul 2026.
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